Salter has alleged – in a claim he has also made to federal and state authorities and which Mitris strongly denied – that after making an initial $10,000 payment to Mitris and agreeing to hand him control of the Victorian arm of his firm, “contracts started moving” and X-Forces gained access to the project.
“I didn’t have a choice. It was either you work, this is how it’s going to be, or no work,” Salter said.
“I didn’t want to, didn’t really want to work with him [Mitris]. I didn’t want to do any of that. But on the other hand, I’ve got the weight of veterans’ jobs weighing on their shoulders, you know, so I decided to go ahead,” Salter claimed.
The allegations raise fresh questions for the Victorian government about its response to growing claims of wrongdoing on the Big Build, including the use of labour-hire companies to place dozens of bikies onto government sites.
Also facing fresh questions is Spark, the consortium building the North East Link, which includes giant Italian firm Webuild. On Tuesday, an investigation by this masthead revealed Webuild was separately accused of covering up alleged corruption and worker exploitation on a project building Sydney Metro stations at the new Western Sydney Airport, which is jointly funded by the Minns and Albanese governments.
On Tuesday night, Sydney Metro confirmed it would launch an inquiry into those allegations which are linked to claims that a key contractor was involved in intimidation of a union official, including a firebombing attack on his home.
Salter’s claims mirror those made to this masthead by several subcontractors, privately for fear of repercussions, that they were forced to give secret inducements to Big Build project supervisors or union officials to win work.
Salter alleged he partnered with Mitris in 2023 because Mitris had claimed he could smooth access to the North East Link and counter resistance from the CFMEU.
Mitris allegedly has deep inside and closely guarded connections with the now-sacked leadership of the CFMEU in Victoria which extended to influence among Big Build project managers.
“He talked the game of being able to open those doorways. My role was basically to facilitate the veterans,” said Salter, who claimed his initial attempts to get onto the Big Build were blocked by project supervisors and the CFMEU.
Daniel Salter.
“To guarantee your work, you need to have the network or the connections. And Billy [Mitris], that’s exactly what he sort of said he had,” Salter claimed.
Salter said Mitris was careful not to reveal who was in his network of influence, with the exception of Mitris’ best friend, union assistant secretary Elias Spernovasilis.
“When he goes up to the union office, like they have their own little meetings. I know that he’s in the main circle there, that’s for sure,” he alleged of Mitris’ dealings with the CFMEU between 2023 and mid-2024, when Spernovasilis was sacked and CFMEU administrator Mark Irving, KC, was installed.
Mitris also separately secured a contract to provide workers to the Footscray Hospital redevelopment.
Victoria’s North East Link in March.Credit: Joe Armao
In 2020 and 2023, the Victorian government’s Labour Hire Authority provided two companies controlled by Mitris, including the Victorian arm of X-Forces, with government approval to supply workers to major projects.
The approval deemed Mitris a “fit and proper” person to supply labour despite police intelligence linking Mitris to several well-known figures in Melbourne’s gangland, including violent mafia boss Rocco Arico.
Five days after this masthead contacted authorities about Salter’s allegations, the Victorian government Labour Hire Authority contacted Mitris and flagged its intention to remove his labour-hire licences.
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In an interview, Mitris denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were “f—ing stupid”.
He said he intended to “deal with the Labor Hire Authority” to clear his name.
Asked about why Salter had raised the allegations about him and if they were false, Mitris said: “I actually liked him a lot. He’s just gone a bit silly. But he was not a bad fella, actually, to tell the truth.”
Labour Hire Authority commissioner Steve Dargavel would not comment on specific cases but said he was taking action “against hundreds of dodgy labour-hire companies in Victoria’s construction industry” and his soon-to-be-boosted powers would enable him to do more to clean up the industry.
“Many construction industry leaders have told me they want the crooks out of their industry and a tougher approach from agencies,” he said.
“Cleaning up this industry requires focused effort and collaboration by government agencies, with support from employers and unions.”
Despite having a minimal public profile, Mitris is well known in Melbourne security, construction and underworld circles.
In 2015, Mitris testified as a witness for Arico’s successful defence to charges that Arico had received $24,000 in an extortion payment, telling the court that the money was in fact a loan that Mitris had given Arico. Mitris has no criminal charges against him.
Quizzed by this masthead about his gangland connections, Mitris described Arico, who is currently in jail for drug trafficking and previously was jailed for kidnapping and attempted murder, as “my little mate” and a “good guy”.
Billy Mitris during his boxing career.
Mitris denied suggestions he was a gangland figure, explaining he had earned his hard-man reputation because, “I’ve knocked a lot of gangsters out, my friend, heaps. I am the one that basically took care of a lot of trouble for f—in’ nightclubs. That’s where I’ve got my reputation, mate.”
Salter also has a colourful past, with no criminal record, having previously forced police to withdraw charges alleging he had illegally sold firearms in NSW.
His allegations of paying inducements to get Big Build access mirror the claims made by industry fixer Harry Korras last year.
Korras was sensationally caught in an undercover sting – carried out by this masthead’s Building Bad series – claiming he could place corrupt building firms onto the Big Build in return for kickbacks.
Korras claimed he had taken payments from companies to facilitate their access to the Big Build, and that some of the under-the-table kickbacks would be paid to Korras’ good “friends” in the CFMEU who in turn would direct compliant major contractors to hire the bribe-paying firms.
Last year, this masthead’s Building Bad scandal also revealed secret audio recordings of two still-serving CFMEU officials claiming they could control which subcontractors were appointed by most of the major Big Build contractors.
In addition to an initial $10,000 payment to Mitris, Salter has alleged Mitris extracted a further $70,000 in improper financial benefits by directing money from the veterans’ labour-hire firms to pay off the mortgage of Mitris’ Collins Street apartment.
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Financial records from X-Forces Victoria obtained by this masthead record $69,334 paid by X-Forces Victoria in “rent” for the 2024-25 financial year.
In response to the claim, Mitris said he had also been quizzed about it by federal authorities and it was a “ridiculous” claim.
“It was an office; it was set up as an office,” he insisted.
Salter alleged Mitris also stood to make significant profits via his control of X-Forces Victoria if the company ever realised Salter’s goal of employing dozens of veterans on the North East link.
But the company never had any more than 10 employees on its books and, after Salter and Mitris fell out earlier this year, Mitris terminated its remaining Big Build employees.
Salter told this masthead that the pair’s falling-out was because Mitris was rorting the company, but Mitris claims it was because the pair’s girlfriends had a dispute.
Salter is also scathing of the Victorian government’s social procurement policy. This masthead has previously reported how the policy has encouraged alleged corruption by gangland figures seeking Big Build access in return for alleged kickbacks.
Salter said the policy was not delivering the opportunities veterans deserved.
“The procurement hasn’t been met. It never has. It’s supposed to be 2½ per cent [of marginalised cohorts employed], and we ended up with six positions. Like, it’s just, it’s crazy,” he said.
“My vision was to be committed to giving those who have served our country a fair go,” said Salter, who has now left Victoria’s construction sector to work in Queensland’s mining industry.
Dargavel, the Labour Hire Authority commissioner, also issued a warning to businesses employing labour-hire subcontractors with suspect backers.
“Any construction company who is dubious about a labour-hire provider but still allows them on their work site, should think twice,” he said.
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